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N.Korea may drop talks with US

A senior North Korean official announced Friday that her regime is rethinking whether to continue nuclear talks with the United States and maintain a moratorium on missile tests, according to foreign news reports.

Speaking at an urgent meeting with diplomats and foreign media in Pyongyang, Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui cited the U.S. attitude in the recent Hanoi summit.

“We have no intention to yield to the U.S. demands (at the Hanoi summit) in any form, nor are we willing to engage in negotiations of this kind,” she was quoted as saying by Russia’s TASS news agency.

A high ranking North Korean diplomat says Pyongyang is considering suspending discussions about denuclearization with Washington.

The North’s Vice Foreign Minister is quoted as saying her country’s leader will make an official announcement soon.

Choe Son Hui said at a news conference in Pyongyang on Friday that the North has no intention of yielding to US demands.

She also blamed US officials for creating a hostile atmosphere, which she says resulted in the breakdown of the recent US-North Korea summit in Vietnam.

Subsequently, some US research groups have reported signs of activity resuming at sites related to the North’s missile program. Two US monitoring groups say an engine testing and rocket launch facility may be back up and running.

North Korea’s propaganda website has recently said that the country remains committed to completely denuclearizing and bringing about lasting peace on the Korean peninsula.

But it also stressed sanctions should be lifted in response to the steps the North is taking.

The US has called on members of the UN Security Council to maintain sanctions against Pyongyang